Skates
by Amethyst Wolf Dragon
Summary: Russia had always had two pairs of skates. The ones he used all the time and the ones that never seemed to move from the closet they lived in. Lithuania has come for a visit but Russia is out when he arrives.


Hey Folks, I know I should be working on Acting and the Random Holidays but I was watching the Olympics and this basically sprang into my head whole sale. Hope ya like it!

P.S. Russia may be a smidge out of character. Also, it's Russia/Lithuania if you squint.

Disclaimer: Nope, these guys aren't mine.

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Russia had always had two pairs of skates. The first pair were the ones he always wore when he was seen on the ice. The second pair sat in a seldom used closet and Lithuania had never looked at them too closely. When he'd first arrived at Russia's home all those years ago he had wondered about them, but they never moved. Lithuania figured they must be some old skates that Russia had used when he was younger and just couldn't get rid of.

Now, many years after leaving Russia's house, Lithuania had returned for a semi-business visit. When he'd arrived, there had been a note for him telling him to get settled in the guest room. Lithuania had sighed and gone around to the backdoor where he knew the key he still had to Russia's house from all those years ago would work. Upon entering, Lithuania had found the house in good repair and reasonably clean. He quickly got his things put up in the guest room, wondering where Russia had gone off to. Shrugging, he started to look around the house that he hadn't been in for quite some time. Everything seemed a little plainer, but still neat and clean.

Eventually, Lithuania decided that going out and walking around would be better then waiting in the house. As he retrieved his jacket from the rear coat closet, he noticed that something was different in this closet. At first, he wasn't sure what it was because nothing had changed between the time he'd put his jacket in and now. Frowning, he stared into the closet before it hit him. The old skates, the one's he had never seen moved, were not in the closet. Lithuania blinked before shrugging and closing the door.

_Perhaps he finally got rid of them,_ he thought as he left the house.

He glanced around the snow covered yard and smiled a little. He started walking towards the woods that could still be seen from Russia's backyard. He would admit that the woods, no matter the time of year, were probably the thing he liked best about Russia's place. The part of the woods behind Russia's home was just thick enough that even in winter they concealed a lake.

_Once around the lake should be long enough for Russia to finish whatever errand he had._

Smiling to himself, Lithuania moved slowly through the trees. Luckily, the snow wasn't very deep this time of year. He was walking among the trees near the edge of the lake when he thought he saw something that surprised him.

_It couldn't have been._

Lithuania stopped behind a larger tree and peeked out onto the lake. Then he blinked, rubbed his eyes and looked again just to be sure that he'd seen what he'd thought he'd seen. Sure enough his eyes weren't lying to him.

Out on the lake, Russia was skating without his ever-present jacket. He skated in smooth, graceful arcs, slowly drawing out patterns on the ice. When the arcs brought him close to where Lithuania was hiding he could hear Russia humming an old classical song to himself. Lithuania knew the song and realized that Russia was moving to the music. The music began to play itself in his head as he watched Russia. When the music sped up, so did Russia. He raced ahead on his toes before reversing his skates and skating backwards. After a moment, he reversed again and moved into more long arcs. Lithuania gasped when, at the end of the largest arc, Russia suddenly leaped into the air and spun several times before landing neatly on one skate blade.

He continued to watch Russia skate, not noticing when he moved to sit at the edge of the lake, completely enraptured with this side of Russia that he'd never seen. That wasn't to say that he'd never seen the Russian figure skating teams perform at Olympic events. He had seen that many times and it was always beautiful. What he had never seen was Russia himself giving such a performance.

Finally, as Lithuania knew the music was coming to its crescendo, Russia swept into a low spin, rising as the music rose, until throwing his arms out and stopping right as the music came crashing to an end. Russia held the pose for a moment before turning his head slightly and smiling at Lithuania. It was then that Lithuania realized not only the fact that he had sat in plain sight but that he had also started clapping when Russia had finished.

"Ah, Russia I…I…" Lithuania flushed and looked anywhere but at Russia.

Russia laughed and skated over.

"Tori found me. You enjoyed the performance, da?" he asked with a smile.

Lithuania nodded. "I've never seen you skate like that, Russia."

Russia's smile widened and he pulled Lithuania to his feet. "Would Tori skate with me?"

Lithuania, surprised by the move, stumbled a bit and nearly fell against Russia's chest. He steadied himself by grabbing hold of Russia's other arm as well as the one that had pulled him up.

"Would you, Tori?" Russia asked again.

"I…if you wanted, Russia, but…" Lithuania looked at the ice. He could skate fine, but he couldn't do any of the moves that Russia had.

"But?"

Lithuania studied Russia's skates. He smiled when he realized that Russia was wearing those seldom moved skates from the back closet.

"I have no skates."

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All done, hope you like. See some of you later.

P.S. Review?


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